The Spampinato Brothers at FTC with Zambonis

Sean Spillane

Updated 5:26 pm, Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Joey, second from left, and Johnny, second from right, lead their Spampinato Brothers bandmates into StageOne at the Fairfield Theatre Company for a show Friday night, June 21. The Zambonis also are on the bill.
Photo: Contributed Photo

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Joey Spampinato is sure that the people who come to his shows with the Spampinato Brothers will walk away from the experience enjoying it as much as they did when they saw him perform as part of NRBQ, the band for which he played bass and sang for nearly four decades.

As a contributor of many of NRBQ's classic tunes -- "I Love Her, She Loves Me," "Ridin' In My Car" -- Spampinato was a key factor in the group's success.

He's continuing his musical journey with his brother, Johnny, who had replaced Al Anderson in NRBQ after his 1994 departure and stayed until the band went on hiatus in 2004.

"I think when I'm doing my songs that I wrote for the Spampinato Brothers, they're very compatible with my NRBQ stuff, because that's who I was for 40 years," Joey Spampinato said in a recent phone interview from Cape Cod, Mass., where he now makes his home. "When my brother's doing material, it could be NRBQ songs, but it most likely will be songs from the Incredible Casuals, the band he was in before NRBQ with Aaron Spade, who also plays in our band.

"We try to mix it up and play the songs as we are now, not too focused on how we played them in the past."

The reason for NRBQ's hiatus was keyboardist-singer Terry Adams' battle with throat cancer, and the Spampinatos and NRBQ's drummer, the late Tom Ardolino, continued to play together as Baby Macaroni for a few years. Eventually, Joey and Johnny fulfilled a long-held goal by forming their own band and creating their own music together.

The Spampinato Brothers' first album, "Pie in the Sky," came out in 2010 and Joey Spampinato said the feedback he was given was very positive.

"I think everybody did like it," he said. "I think they liked the NRBQ element to it, which is just part of who I am. I think that it shows that what you got from me with NRBQ, you get from me with the Spampinato Brothers.

"It's just like Terry Adams' solo albums and the albums he's going to do now are going to bring the things he added to NRBQ."

The albums Adams is making now are being released under the banner of NRBQ, although he is the only original member. Adams' claiming of the band name does irk Spampinato, although he doesn't spend too much time fretting about it.

"I'd have to say I was bothered," he said. "At the moment, I don't really think about it, as I have a lot going on right now so that it doesn't concern me right now. So rather than get into issues like that, I'd rather say that it doesn't bother me, but it did at first."

At Friday night's show, there's a good chance that Spampinato will take part in a little musical interaction with the Zambonis, who are also on the bill.

"I think we might," he said. "I know we did last time we played together. I know they do a version of (NRBQ's) `Wild Weekend' that I might join in."